Chapter 76: Insect Control / Beast Taming?

Chapter 76: Chapter 76: Insect Control / Beast Taming?

Li Changsheng lifted his basket, smiling cheerfully. "I brought some fruit for you to try, Senior Brother."

"What’s with all the pleasantries between us! Come on in and sit for a while."

Dong Xing was slightly taken aback. After snapping out of it, he hurried forward to take the basket. Although he grumbled, he couldn’t hide the smile on his face.

Li Changsheng gave Dong Yao a slight nod, then shook his head and politely declined, "I can’t stay. I still have things to take care of at home. You should rest, Senior Brother." With that, he turned to leave.

Dong Xing walked him to the gate. He watched Li Changsheng ride away on Xiaohua before heading back into the courtyard with the basket.

"Heh, this Li Changsheng..."

Dong Xing hefted the bag of rice, the smile on his face growing wider.

Dong Yao walked over, took the basket with the bag of rice from him, and asked curiously, "Grandpa, are you two that close? Why is he being so formal?"

"A few days ago, wasn’t it time to harvest our Spirit Field? I asked him to come and help..."

Dong Xing chuckled and explained the situation. Then, his gaze shifted beyond the fence, and he clicked his tongue in amazement. "Did you hear that? Ever since he arrived, there’s been a buzzing sound from insects flapping their wings outside."

"That kid has at least two hundred contracted insects. Most of them are unranked, but seeing them in a swarm is enough to make your skin crawl."

"And what’s more, to harvest the Spirit Rice faster, he actually divided his attention to control the spirit insects to do the reaping..."

Dong Xing sighed in admiration, "Truly strange, truly bizarre..."

’Two hundred contracted insects? Harvesting Spirit Rice...’

Dong Yao put the Spirit Rice in the granary, turned back, and plopped down onto a chair. She frowned and said, "Grandpa, you’d best not get too close to him in the future."

"He seems normal enough now, but based on the rumors I’ve heard in the Demon Hunting Corps, no Spirit Insect Manipulator is easy to get along with. A normal one, that is..."

Dong Yao said seriously, "He commands so many insects. Even if he’s fine now, he’ll definitely run into trouble later." She paused, then added, "Everyone knows that when you cultivate an Insect Control Technique, the power is immense once you have a swarm."

"But why do so few people cultivate it?"

"It’s difficult to cultivate, for one. For another, the swarm puts immense pressure on one’s mind. Over time, problems are bound to arise."

Speaking of which, Dong Yao shook her head. "Compared to cultivating an Insect Control Technique, it’s more worthwhile to cultivate a Beast Taming Technique and contract a powerful Spirit Beast."

’Spirit Beast...’

A thought stirred in Dong Xing’s mind. He asked, "Yaoyao, what do you think of his Spirit Beast?"

Dong Yao paused for a moment, recalling carefully, before shaking her head. "It looks like a mutated Tusked Pig. Its build is quite sturdy, but in the end, it’s just a Tusked Pig meant for slaughter and consumption..."

Her words clearly showed she looked down on Xiaohua.

Hearing this, Dong Xing sighed inwardly. ’It seems Little Xiaohua isn’t destined for our family.’

He hadn’t thought much of it either at first. But when he went to Li Changsheng’s house today and saw Little Xiaohua in the pen—looking just like Xiaohua—he was instantly tempted.

But since his granddaughter looked down on it, he had no choice but to give up the idea.

The two continued to chat idly.

Eventually, the conversation turned to the Spirit Plant Master legacy being passed down from the Spirit Plant Hall.

Dong Yao seemed to know a great deal about it, explaining to him in detail the difficulty of the Spirit Plant legacy and the consequences of backlash.

"Grandpa, you mustn’t cultivate it. Spirit Plant Masters are basically talented individuals sought out by sects from the mortal world. Without that talent, rashly practicing it will definitely lead to a backlash."

"Don’t worry, Grandpa knows what he’s doing."

Dong Xing nodded and smiled, then changed the subject, asking with concern, "Yaoyao, where is your next mission?"

Hearing this, Dong Yao’s heart felt heavy. She sighed, "Grandpa, even if you want to study the Spirit Plant legacy, you must think it through carefully. If you feel anything is wrong, you have to stop cultivating it." She paused, then added, "You’re the only family I have left. If..."

"You should rest, Grandpa. I’m going back to cultivate now."

With that, she stood up and turned toward the wooden house.

Watching her retreating back, Dong Xing’s expression was complicated. He opened his mouth as if to speak...

But after a moment’s hesitation, it all dissolved into a sigh.

Dong Xing leaned back in his chair, gazing at the bright, clear moon in the sky. He murmured, "This is all there is to Grandpa’s life. But you’re still young..."

.

When Li Changsheng returned to his small courtyard, he went straight up to the second floor.

He stroked Xiaobai, who was lying on the soft couch.

Sitting cross-legged on the couch, he flipped his hand over to produce a jade bottle. He tilted it slightly, and a Refining Jade Pill—gleaming white like jade and cool to the touch—fell into his palm.

Li Changsheng popped it into his mouth. As the Elixir Pill entered his stomach, a cool stream of air soon began to flow from within.

He knew this was the medicinal power activating. Not daring to delay, he immediately closed his eyes and began circulating his Cultivation Technique to refine it.

As he absorbed the streams of medicinal power, the Spiritual Power surging through his Spirit Veins grew imperceptibly stronger.

Compared to circulating his technique to refine the Spiritual Qi in the air, refining medicinal pills offered incredibly fast progress.

「The next day.」

Li Changsheng woke up early, and as usual, he started a fire, chopped vegetables, and made pig feed.

After feeding his Spirit Beasts,

Li Changsheng picked up the vine rope and wooden plow from the corner of the pen, walked to the courtyard gate, and swung himself onto Xiaohua’s back.

"Let’s go, Xiaohua."

OINK OINK...

Xiaohua grunted as it got to its feet. It ambled out of the courtyard gate and, under his guidance, headed straight for the Spirit Field.

The Spirit Rice harvest was complete. The next step was to plow the Spirit Field and plant the next season’s crop.

By the time the sky began to dim, the man and beast ambled back to the small courtyard.

Li Changsheng leaped to the ground, unfastened the wooden plow from Xiaohua’s back, and set it aside by the pen. He walked into the wooden house, humming a nameless little tune.

Smoke curled up from the chimney, and another day passed.

After feeding his Spirit Beasts,

Li Changsheng returned to the second floor. He sat cross-legged on the soft couch, closed his eyes, and began circulating his Cultivation Technique to purify the surging Spiritual Power.

Day after day passed.

In the blink of an eye, half a month went by.

A stretch of vibrant green once again grew in the Spirit Field.

Swarms of Red-winged Blood Bamboo Insects flew in formation around the wooden house, preying on any other insects that dared to intrude.

Xiaohua and Big Flower lay lazily by the courtyard gate, grunting incessantly.

The Red Fox in the pen had become a bit quieter since it was now raising its cubs.

Ever since Little Xiaohua had advanced to the mid-rank and awakened the same innate magic as Xiaohua, its size had nearly caught up to Big Flower’s after several enhancements from Li Changsheng.

However, because its temperament was a bit too lively, Li Changsheng had kept it in the pen.

「Second floor of the wooden house, on the soft couch.」

Li Changsheng slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air. He opened his eyes, his gaze turning inward.

[Cultivation: Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer "93%"]

After consuming and refining five Refining Jade Pills, his cultivation had soared. He was on the verge of breaking through to the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer.

Unfortunately, he had run out of Refining Jade Pills.

If he relied solely on absorbing Spiritual Qi to cultivate, it would take at least another month to break through to the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer.

’Refining Jade Pills...’ 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

’I have to make a trip to the mountaintop Marketplace...’

Li Changsheng took stock of the belongings in his storage bag and got off the couch.

He glanced at the Spirit Tree and the insect nest in the large vat, then strode down from the second floor and entered the kitchen.

Walking up to the rice container, Li Changsheng took out a rice sack and began filling it. He filled four large sacks in a row, stopping after he had packed about 2,500 jin.

Then, he moved all four sacks of Spirit Rice into the courtyard.

Li Changsheng stretched his back and walked into the pen.

OINK OINK...

The sound of Little Xiaohua grunting came from the pen.